First contact with HT @ 9:15 AM, Founders’ primary negotiator requested, no reason given
HT is armed, late thirties or thereabouts – per Mario Dorsey
HT disabled control for the gates from the guard house
Property breach will result in deaths
Video surveillance to remain active, threatened harm to hostages if disconnected
Add Dorsey to the list of things she wanted to discuss, along with Duke and a few other notations. It didn’t settle well the HT had already uttered so many threats. But Sandra viewed them as a blatant attempt at control, which suggested the HT may lack confidence. Not that she’d conclude he was all talk, no action. In fact, the opposite. Hostage takers with low self-esteem were more dangerous than their confident counterparts. They were less likely to be talked down easily as they were more fixed on proving themselves and their worth, no matter the cost.
“Now, the house is fifteen thousand square feet while the property is set on an acre. The only way in is what you see,” Donny said.
Sandra looked again at the monitor and large gates, also taking note of the tall fence.
“He’s right,” Kreiger put in. “ERT officers conducted a discreet sweep of the perimeter and confirmed there are no other ingress points.”
Emergency Response Team. “Okay, while that fence is wrought iron and must be at least seven feet tall.”
“It’s exactly that, and it surrounds the entire property,” Kreiger said. “And there’s only six inches between the bars. No way is anyone squirming through without cutting some bars.”
“Which we won’t do since the hostage taker has threatened harm if we breach.” She nudged her head toward the markerboard.
“That’s the main thing keeping us out.” Kreiger met her eyes, reminding her his fallback position was the use of force.
She wasn’t getting into it with Kreiger. Not yet anyhow. When working the Founders incident, Sandra found out through a third party that Kreiger had one case that haunted his career. It was one where a family of four had lost their lives to a hostage situation in their home. He blamed himself for not getting SWAT to move in sooner. She hoped he had buried the past and wouldn’t be pushing for a breach all day. Though she wasn’t sure she’d be that lucky with this incident mirroring the one that turned sideways for him. “All right, given what you told me, the hostage taker only had one way in. So, how did he make it past the gates?”
“I’ll get to that, but first, did you hear about the passing of Timothy Hanson last week? I assume you have. The news is still everywhere,” Donny said.
“Yes, of course.” Sandra had glimpsed an article headline about Hanson under the Founders Hospital’s one that morning.Hanson’s Billions Pass to Sole Heir.The title said it all without even needing to read the story. But she had read one last week that covered the mogul’s passing.
“Well, our guy used this knowledge to get in,” Gibson began. “He told Dorsey, the guard at the gatehouse, he was with the family’s law firm there to discuss something urgent about the will. He told them he was Joe Buckley. I called the attorney’s office. No employee by that name, and there wasn’t anything further that needed discussing about the will. Dorsey described the man as being in his late thirties, possible forties, but wasn’t very helpful otherwise.”
“He didn’t make a note of the man’s appearance?” Sandra found that questionable.
Gibson shook his head. “Says that’s not what he’s paid for. His job is to verify appointments, collect names, and if all checks out, let them pass.”
“Then asking for a license plate number would be expecting too much?”
“Guy couldn’t even tell me the make and model of the car. Dorsey claims cars aren’t his thing. Officers tried to get a better look through the fence, but there’s no clear line of sight to make out body shape of the vehicle or its plates. Hedges.” Gibson shrugged.
Sandra understood Gibson’s skepticism. Dorsey’s entire job was admitting vehicles onto the property. One would think makes and models, if not people, would leave an impression, if for no reason other than to offset boredom. “So that’s all it took to admit this guy? He sold some story about having important business to discuss with the Hansons?”
“He gave him a business card from the law firm, but yeah,” Gibson confirmed.
If the hostage taker was acting solo, he had taken a risk. What would he have done if his ruse hadn’t worked? His approach was opportunistic and wouldn’t have taken too much effort to devise. The news article Sandra had read stated the name of the law firm as Walton Crane. The HT would have just needed to go by theiroffices for a card. Finding the Hanson estate would have taken a simple internet search. But was he working alone? “Have we taken a good look at this security guard, Dorsey? Maybe he’s in on this.”
“You can bet I did,” Gibson piped up. “Mario Dorsey. Clean record, and I talked with him at length. Nothing flags about the guy. He doesn’t seem to be guilty of anything but incompetence. No criminal record on the security guard working on the inside either. Though, of course, I haven’t had an opportunity to talk with him.”
“He’s the fifth hostage?” Sandra pointed at the photograph of Abram Duke.
“That’s right. Duke’s been with the family for four years,” Gibson said. “Dorsey for seven.”
Sandra nodded. “And there are only the two security personnel on site?”
“Yes. I confirmed that with Dorsey,” Gibson said. “Duke’s record is clear too.”
On the surface, the security team was ruled out. “And what about other staff?”
